R&B began the year 1964 as a dead entity, at least as far as Billboard magazine was concerned: having considered the African-American cultural wars won, at least on the pop chart, they discontinued the “Rhythm and Blues” chart entirely, a move which lasted approximately eleven months, until someone pointed out that there was a raw, gospel-based and blues-born new entity black listeners were enjoying, one which had little to do with the latest dance crazes, girl group romances — or, for that matter, “rock and roll.” Here are the best of 1964’s R&B classics.